“We Saved our Forest”

New: biking and walking tours in Masingini Forest

Students of Kawa, a hospitality school in Stone Town sponsored by the TUI Care Foundation, are re-growing and protecting a whole forest in Zanzibar – thus creating a new tourist attraction. 


Abu is leading the way. The student of Kawa training centre, also known as TUI academy, knows every tree and bird in Masingini forest. A group of visitors follow his footsteps along a narrow, winding path. “This really looks like a jungle”, one visitor says. The young man from Denmark examines 26 crossbikes at the entrance of the forest, neatly parked outside a tiny blue building resembling a witch-house out of a fairy tale. “Next time I will hire a bike to explore the forest”, the visitor says.

The whole setting seems like a fairy tale, indeed. Purchasing a buffer zone of about three hectares of land, and planting 7000 trees, shrubs and flowers on it, the hospitality school has saved Zanzibar’s green lung and the most important water reservoir on the island, from being swallowed by ever-encroaching house construction. “Within two years nature reclaimed its ground and razored plots have become a jungle again, frequently visited by Red Colobus monkeys, elephant shrews, lizards and a variety of birds, including the pigmy kingfisher”, says Suzanne Degeling, director of the Kawa school, herself actively involved in the project.  


Outdoor classroom

Only eight kilometres away from Stone Town, near some spice farms, the Masingini forest is one of Unguja’s well kept secrets. With an abundance of flora and fauna, enormous natural gullies and fresh-water streams, it  is surrounded by 13 villages and covers about 500 hectares. 

The Kawa foundation is dedicated to “preserving nature, fostering vocational training and raising environmental awareness”, explains director Degeling: “Empowering local communities is our mission.” Students have learnt that they cannot only earn a living as tour guides, chefs and waiters but also via nature-based activities. They have built a treehouse in the forest, used as a classroom and workshop to produce soaps, honey, baskets and forest related art. What is biodiversity and why is it important, are the questions discussed in the outdoor classroom. 

In a survey, students identified trees and plants and developed the first walking and cycling tours. Bluebikes Zanzibar, an offspring of Kawa, discovered several trails through the wilderness – now becoming a hub of adventure for visitors, as well as a bike mechanic training facility. Visitors can opt for a thrill-seeking adventure going almost vertically up or down a ridge, or choose a more mellow path in the soothing forest atmosphere.

 

Infos and bookings:
www.bluebikeszanzibar.com,
Ph/WhatsApp 0656 230943

 

 

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